Nationalize Us Too!
Chrysler, GM, and Ford want to suckle, too:
Even as lawmakers in both parties unleashed a barrage of questions about the wisdom of a government rescue for the American International Group, support seemed to be growing quickly on Capitol Hill for $25 billion in loan guarantees to assist the ailing auto industry.
Both presidential candidates, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, have voiced support for the loan guarantees ? an unsurprising stance given the critical importance of the main auto-producing states, Michigan and Ohio, to the electoral map this fall.
The chief executives of the three big American automakers ? General Motors, Ford and Chrysler ? met on Wednesday afternoon with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
When they emerged, they expressed optimism that the loan guarantees would be included as part of a budget resolution that is needed to finance government operations through the end of the year.
Chrysler, GM, and Ford?should be?careful what?they wish for. If the AIG model is followed, those car companies could easily become the US AvtoVAZ:
The Avtovaz project was promoted as a dynamic feat of collective socialist effort…
Compare that to this:
These are jobs. These are cars that we should be selling ? or manufacturing in America, not someplace else.
– Harry Reid, as quoted in the NYT article
There?is no difference between those two statements. With those loans will come?even more?destructive government oversight.?
NY Times article via?Radley Balko.